One Hundred Great Catholic Books: From the Early Centuries to the Present

One Hundred Great Catholic Books: From the Early Centuries to the Present | Don Brophy | Does what it says it will do!

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One Hundred Great ...

	One Hundred Great Catholic Books: From the Early Centuries to the Present Don Brophy Bluebridge, 2007 - 240 pages average customer review:based on 5 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Succinct and thoughtful, this collection of 100 classics of past and present Catholic literature covers topics ranging from biography, spirituality, theology, and poetry to history, mystical writings, and fiction. Each of the chronologically arranged entries introduces one book in its historical context, provides information about the author, and gives a clear and focused summary of its content. Whether readers are looking for an overview of Catholic thought and writing across the centuries or want to begin discovering these classics for themselves, this book offers an illuminating gateway to some of the great achievements of the human heart and mind.

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Wonderful Introduction to Catholic Thought

What if you had a dear friend who was able to recommend one hundred great books in the Catholic tradition for you to read? That is the service Don Brophy provides in "One Hundred Great Catholic Books." What makes a book "Catholic?" For Brophy's purposes, the primary criteria was that the author be Catholic because as he correctly states, "people are Catholic, books are not." In a couple of instances, Brophy does include books whose authors were not Catholic because they wrote about Catholics or collaborated with Catholics.

Of course, there is a danger whenever one tries to make a list of one hundred great anything. There are always going to me some favorites that are left out and some included that people feel shouldn't be. Brophy is to be given credit for taking on the challenge. In addition, he includes a list of fifty other books at the end that come highly recommended as well. Brophy has chosen wisely, including most of the great classics of spirituality such as St. Augustine's "Confessions," "The Cloud of Unknowing," St. Teresa's "The Interior Castle," and St. Therese's "Story of a Soul." He has attempted to also include a broad spectrum of works, including history, apologetics, autobiography, and fiction. In these entries, one becomes acquainted with works by Flannery O'Connor, J.R.R. Tolkien, Maria Montessori, and Gerard Manley Hopkins. For each book, Brophy provides a two-page synopsis and indication of why this book was important. One can learn much about Catholic thought simply by reading these capsules. Hopefully, however, " One Hundred Great Catholic Books" will inspire you to go out and actually read some of these classics. A reader ambitious enough to read all of them would have a strong understanding of Catholic thought.

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Does what it says it will do!

The author cites and describes 100 works worth reading for anyone interested in the spiritual life, primarily Catholics, but no limited to them. Each summary does justice to the work cited. Highly recommended.

An Interesting Assortment of Books By Catholics

The Catholic Church fascinates many people. This is not a new phenomenon. It fascinated people in the past and no doubt will continue to do so. On the one hand it is an authoritarian, hierarchical Church with many rules and regulations. On the other, it's also the same Church that has produced some of the world's greatest writers, artists, musicians, and forward thinking people. James Joyce's famous expression "Here Comes Everybody" from FINNEGAN'S WAKE applies to the Catholic Church. Catholic thought is far more diverse than many realize and when this is discovered, a new level of fascination with the Church often emerges.
Don Brophy's ONE HUNDRED GREAT CATHOLIC BOOKS includes titles which demonstrate the diversity of Catholicism and what is often called "the Catholic imagination." His list of great books includes what any reader should expect to find, titles such as THE CONFESSIONS of St. Augustine, Pope John XXIII's JOURNAL OF A SOUL, St. Benedict's RULE, Dante's DIVINE COMEDY, Thomas Merton's SEVEN STOREY MOUNTAIN, Georges Bernanos's DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST, and Dorothy Day's THE LONG LONELINESS to name a sampling. While his selections of what could be termed Catholic "classics" are what should be expected, he also has some interesting contemporary choices. Sr. Helen Prejean's DEAD MAN WALKING, Robert Ellsberg's ALL SAINTS, and Gustavo Gutierrez's WE DRINK FROM OUR OWN WELLS immediately come to mind. Some are surprising. Thomas Cahill's HOW THE IRISH SAVED CIVILIZATION and Alice McDermott's CHARMING BILLY would not be immediate choices of mine, but certainly both make sense. Some are controversial selections. My guess is that more than a few eyebrows are raised when authors such as Richard McBrien and James Carroll are included. However, the point is to show the variety of thought that is so much a part of Catholicism, and this Brophy does well.
Each selection is given a short summary the merits of the book and why it was selected. It's a perfect guide for a Catholic reading group or for anyone who wants to see that the Catholic Church is far broader than it's often portrayed to be.

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Useful for catholics and non-catholics

Useful compilation and summaries of catholic writings from early times to the present. Since the list is limited to 100, some authors are missing, such as Bishop Fulton Sheen and Father Benedict Groeschel. If this reviewer compiled a list of 100, they would be on the list.

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